For my first blog, I want to talk about cave diving. In fact, I think for my next blog I'll also speak about cave diving, because it's my main way of diving. As a diver, I quickly became addicted to caves, mainly flooded caves. When I started cave diving, I wasn't sure it was a good idea, mainly due to its very bad reputation as the 'most dangerous sport in the world'. Since my first dive, since the beginning, I have felt like Alice in Wonderland. Most of the time, caves are a magical places, and a cave diver is just like a kid playing in a fantastic universe.
Cave diving needs skills, experience and awareness. It's not an activity to take lightly, but today, after decades of evolution, with high quality equipment and a high level of training quality, cave diving is becoming more accessible. No need to be a super hero, just to be a quiet, serious, curious diver. As proof, the number of dives in caves has increased all over the world, whilst accidents and fatalities have stayed the same and decreased.
As for me, I started cave diving out of curiosity, and for more than 20 years, the same curiosity has pushed me to go further and deeper. Caving and cave diving are ways to explore the last, unknown areas of the earth. It's very difficult to describe the sensation of the discovery. When you're moving for the first time in an unexplored gallery, when lights illuminate the stone for the first time, your mind and body feel a mix of emotions. Hysteria against control, excitement against harmony, fear against happiness. But, you can trust me, this journey in to the unknown is like a drug, an obsession, and it's a philosophical quest, a path to harmony.
After all these years of practice, I'm not tired, quite the opposite, I am even more deeply passionate about caves. I'm always in caves and caves are always inside me. That's my life, it's certainly the same way for the most part of cave explorers. It's not only a hobby, it's more, really more. It's a way of life, a quest, a search for harmony. With cave diving, you are small and big, tight and strong, humble and confident, doubtful and serene. With cave diving, you go deep into the Earth, deep into the sense of life, of our life. A great and fascinating inner journey.
Cave diving is becoming popular because it offers the opportunity for an intense, exotic and spiritual experience. There are no more reasons to be afraid, just try and let yourself be enchanted by the magic of cave diving.
To get started on your cave diving journey with SSI, complete the Cavern Diving specialty!
Pierre Eric
12th February 2019
